Casey and Cremen comfortable as they power into lightweight double sculls semis

29 Jul 2024, 09:34 by Niall Kelly · The42

AOIFE CASEY AND Margaret Cremen got their Olympic bid back on a track with an impressive victory in Monday morning’s lightweight double sculls repechage.

The Cork duo narrowly missed out on direct qualification for Wednesday’s semi-finals when they finished third in their heat on Sunday, but had few worries at the Vaires-sur-Marne Nautical Stadium as they booked their place at the second time of asking.

The Cork duo marginally trailed Canada at the 500m mark, but pulled clear soon after to leave clear water between themselves and the chasing pack.

They won in 7:11.38, more than five seconds clear of runners-up Canada (7:16.81), with Argentina a distance back (7:29.76) as they took the third qualification place.

Poland, Austria and Tunisia also qualified for the semi-finals out of the second repechage.